


I Wish I'd Met You Sooner

by minako_arisato



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Gen, implied platonic feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2018-03-19 17:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3617493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minako_arisato/pseuds/minako_arisato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She looked at him like he was a person, not a walking illness. She acknowledged that he had an illness of course, she didn't pretend he didn't, she just thought of him as she would have anyone else, and to Akinari, it was a rare treat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Wish I'd Met You Sooner

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, this was written at 3 AM out of my love for Akinari. He's an amazing character, and I wish he'd had more time in game.

_"You don't have long left to live. Enjoy yourself while you can."_

That's what the doctors had said and Akinari knew he should believe them. He took no time in denying his death, because death came for everyone at some point. His was just sooner than others. He didn't hope the doctors were mistaken either, bringing false hope with him to the grave was just too unlike him.

So he simply accepted his fate and waited to die. That's all he could really do. 

"Memento Mori" was a phrase he said to himself often, he knew he would never truly forget he was meant to die, but the reminder was enough to keep him from ever thinking he would be above such things. "Memento Mori" means, "Remember that you will die", which is blunt enough just the way he liked it, but the underlying meaning is what made it a favorite of his. "Remember that you will die" is just a more morbid way of saying "Live today as if it was your last". Most people don't think of that when they hear the phrase.   
It was a surprise when he finally met someone who understood that without him explaining it.

He remembered the day clearly, sunny. Relatively warm. The little grade schooler, she said her name was Maiko, had been talking to him when a girl slightly younger than he arrived.

Akinari knew that if he was the essence of death, then she was the essence of life itself. Her bright and burning self brought light into his gray world.

He was skeptical at first, people pitied him wherever he went, so he distanced himself because he thought she'd do the same. She didn't. 

She looked at him like he was a person, not a walking illness. She acknowledged that he had an illness of course, she didn't pretend he didn't, she just thought of him as she would have anyone else, and to Akinari, it was a rare treat.

_"My name is Minako Arisato. What's yours?"_

Akinari was not fond of many things in life or people either, he saw no point in getting attached to anyone or anything because he would die so soon, but he couldn't help himself from quickly enjoying her company and wishing to see her often.

Her name became one of his favorite things. It was beautiful, just like she was.

_"Do you understand how I feel? About dying?" He asked. "No, I don't." Was her response._

She didn't claim to understand what he was going through either. She herself was an understanding person, but she knew she couldn't go as far to say that she understood what it felt like to be dying. He respected that.

She helped him grow as a person, which was something he never felt was necessary. He didn't know it, but he had a big impact on her as well.

The story he wrote was meant to be only for him, but he wanted her to be a part of it as well. That's why he took her suggestions about the story and ended it on a happy note. He liked it better that way.

Though, Akinari still didn't like to end things. He book was still the only thing he'd ever finished. 

Everything came to an end. Like how his book ended, his time with Minako had ended.

He wasn't good with finalities.

He didn't attempt them.

He didn't regret it. There was nothing left unsaid. 

She understood him completely. Anything he would have said would have been known to her already. And part of him wished she hadn't gotten attached to a dead man.  
Part of him wished he'd met her sooner.

His last thoughts were of the girl that he only saw on Sundays. 

The bright red girl who danced like leaves in an autumn wind into his life, stirred it up and left him in the dust.

He was happy with that.

He wouldn't ask for more.


End file.
